To Livingstone and Mosi-Oa-Tunya (The smoke that thunders– Vic Falls!!)
on Kev in Tanzania (Tanzania), 18/Sep/2009 04:57, 34 days ago
Finally made it!!Saturday 5th SeptemberWe caught the bus at Lusaka bus station at 7.30am, the main conductor was a fierce dwarf/midget/little person (what is political correctness?) who barked orders at his co-workers. The journey was going to be around 7 hours but the bus was nice (though my seat was a little uncomfortable but fixed that with a blanket).There were a few stops on the way and we went past a place called‘Pemba’ much to Liz’s delight. We had some chips half way through the journey and the conductor gave us all a coke zero – my first in Africa.We arrived in Livingstone at 2.30pm and walked to our hostel called Jolly Boys Backpackers. It was a great little place with a bar, pool, chill out area and a desk where you can book activities.We pop down to the local shoprite to get some food for a picnic that we were planning to have the next day at the falls. We had dinner at Jolly Boys (including a few Mosi beers) and then caught a cab to the falls to try and see the lunar rainbow.On the way to the falls (about 5 miles away) there was an elephant in the road– he looked enormous in the headlights of the taxi. We got to the falls and there were people loitering around the main gate, I was getting a little wary as we had been warned about walking to the falls and it was dark. Liz was excited and we were able to get a local trader to open the gates.Once near the ticket booth the trader wanted $20 each to see the falls. The main said $10 each and I was unsure just who he was. Liz was excited and just wanted to get in and see the falls. Our cab driver left and we had no phone signal, to make things worse the guy was not an official guide and I was not too happy about going into the park without a guide or ticket. There was another couple with us who shared my sentiments but we agreed anyway (partly because there was no way I was letting Liz go in alone with this guy).We walked in an we could hear the roaring of the falls, as our eyes got used to the darkness you could see and feel some of the spray from the falls. Unfortunately for us the moon was not bright enough or the water was not high enough for us to see a lunar rainbow. But I had to grudgingly admit to Liz it was gorgeous to see the falls at night. We went back to the ticket booth and got out without a hitch (I was almost expecting to see a guide waiting to demand to see our tickets or worse…). We managed to catch a cab back to Jolly Boys and in the end despite my cautiousness it was a well worth activity.Sunday 6th SeptemberWe had a nice lie in and caught the free shuttle to Vic Falls at 10am. We had a nice walk around and took lots and lots of great photos. The falls were even better in daylight. So huge! Over 1 mile wide and over 100 metres high! It is currently the dry season so the falls were not one giant fall but several with rocky outcrops between them. In the wet season you can see the falls from miles away due to the spray and would be soaked if you tried to stand where we were standing in many of the photos!We were able to walk along the top of some of the falls and it was there that a baboon nearly stole Liz’s bag, I grabbed mine and it bared its teeth at me, Liz shouted and the baboon ran away (I almost did too!). Just before lunch we decided to walk down the edge to the Lower Zambezi where the rapid called ‘Boiling Pot’ is and this is also where the rafting starts. It was quite a walk down and included crossing a few small rivers, we enlisted the help of a guide and I could not help but compare parts of the falls and canyons to the Grand Canyon in the US.We climbed back up the gorge and decided to have our picnic near the falls. I was on baboon duty as they were very active and on the hunt for some food! We had half our lunch before stashing the food and deciding to head back to Jolly Boys. On the way out we stopped to see the trader who showed us around the night before. There were about 30 stalls and they all wanted our trade. It was funny they wanted my socks and any pens that we had on us. We did a little haggling but knew we would return so did not actually purchase anything. We caught a cab back to Jolly Boys around 3pm, Liz went for a walk and I used the Internet. Once she got back we spend the rest of the day relaxing and Liz was excited that she was going to meet her best friend tomorrow.